First year students from all engineering disciplines have been actively engaging with the design process in a new module called ‘Introduction to Engineering Design’.

Module Lead

Gary Underwood

Tutors

Franziska Conrad
Alastair McDonald
Carl Leroy-Smith
Prof Martyn Hill
Dr Mark Mavrogordato
Dr Nong Gao
Prof Marcus Heller
Prof Georges Limbert
Dr Yao Zhang
Prof Stephen Turnock
Prof David White
Dr Jack Denny
Dr Felix Langfeldt
Prof Mohamed Hassan-Sayed
Prof Phillip Joseph
Dr Davide Lasagna
Prof Bharath
Ganapathisubramani
Dr Swathi Krishna
Prof Ali Elham
Dr Dea Wangsawijaya.

First year students from all engineering disciplines have been actively engaging with the design process in a new module called ‘Introduction to Engineering Design’. Project based learning in the form of lectures and workshops forms the module core. Students have learnt to apply concepting and iteration tools such as Crazy 8’s, SCAMPER and quick and dirty prototyping methods to create solutions to problems quickly and creatively.

The module has also included introductory training in CAD and computer programming, as well as practical workshop skills. The students have utilised this to develop, test and analyse their designs through the use of test rigs and computer modelling as part of their final design assessment.

Practical learning in the design studio and in workshops has been underpinned by research in the context of human-centred design methods. Ethical implications, sustainability and teamworking have formed a large part of the different design projects featured in the module. Students have had the opportunity to communicate their work visually through sketches and posters – such as the bio- inspired examples shown here – as well as in presentations and individual reflective design portfolios.